Introducing Pablo del Campo, a creative tennis fan from Argentina. Del Campo came up with the idea of a half-grass, half-clay court, inspired by the mixed surfaces of baseball stadiums in Miami that he flew to as a child.
“When the outfield meets the infield, the grass meets the dirt…and when you look at it from above, you see a hybrid tennis court,” said Dell, who previously tried unsuccessfully to arrange a mixed-surface match between Pete Sampras and Gustavo.・Mr. Campo said. Kuerten was a top grass clay player before the Federer-Nadal era.
Del Campo first approached Nadal and Federer’s team with the idea in 2005, and the teams eventually agreed to play an exhibition match on a mixed surface, with the Swiss saying it would be “fun” and “exciting”. Ta.
“I think the idea was appealing to both Federer and Nadal,” del Campo said on the BBC’s Sporting Witness podcast.
Construction of the court took 19 days, cost $1.63 million (£1.28 million), and organizers had to deal with an insect infestation, but in the end the court was declared by Djokovic as the “best ever seen.” Described as “one of the best images in tennis” – was ready.
